The significance of Marching bands are one the most recognizable and celebrated institutions at Historically Black colleges and universities. Often at the center of legacy and culture, the marching band is the chief university brand ambassador and is central to the HBCU experience.
The modern HBCU marching band experience dates back to 1946, when HBCUs such as Tennessee State University began birthing a tradition of excellence. It is this historical foundation that provides the artful makings of First Art Museum’s Exhibit: Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage, a Derek Fordjour x 2023 TSU collaboration.
Meet The Artist: Derek Fordjour
Derek Fordjour (born 1974) is an interdisciplinary artist and educator from Memphis Tennessee. A Morehouse College graduate, Fordjour’s work has been exhibited in numerous venues, including the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis (2020), Nasher Museum of Art (2019), and the Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art (2018–2019).
TSU has previously praised Fordjour for his ability to “grapple with art making on straightforwardly human terms, allowing his projects to communicate the widest array of emotions.”
Fordjour x 2023 TSU Mural Exhibit
Fordjour spoke to HBCU Buzz exclusively about developing the project and the essence of perfect timing:
“This project came together through the vision of Senior Curator, Katie Delmez at the Frist Art Museum. The project was in conjunction with another groundbreaking show she curated that features the works of prominent African-American artists. Katie was familiar with my HBCU Band Series and with the grammy-winning TSU Aristocrat of Bands,” Fordjour states.
“It felt the timing was great and that this was a wonderful approach to audience development and creating access for TSU students.”
Fordjour depicts HBCU Marching Bands in his textured collage painting murals and features the grammy winning TSU Aristocrat of Bands. In addition to the museum, the mural exhibit is also on display at TSU’s Strange Performing Arts Center of the campus.
Ultimately, Fordjour says he hopes this partnership will inspire more museum expansion and forging necessary relationships in the field.
“I hope more museums around the country will take a page out of First Art Museum’s playbook and seek to forge relationships in unexpected places. I believe it will radically expand the mission of the museum.”
“The ways we have previously thought about audience development at museums in the past are antiquated. What we see with the museum and this project is the beginning of what dynamic partnership can look like.”
The art exhibit which began this September, will be available through December 31, 2023. For more information on the collaboration exhibit, please visit The First Art Museum.
